Eight years ago I began to write a series of poems. The first one was titled, Tomorrow, and I had a thousand of them printed up and put one in my gallery window. A woman walked in the following morning and bought five copies. She told me that she had had 5 children, but one had passed away the previous week, and she had read the poem in the window the previous night and it strongly affected her. She bought copies for each of her 4 remaining children as well.

Well, one of the subsequent poems was about a Teddy Bear, and I had it illustrated. I've not gotten around to publishing the book yet, but I have printed some posters from the illustrations. I'll have them up on a Web page shortly. If I knew how to put pictures on the Blog site, I'd put them here, but damn it, I simply am having trouble doing anything escept straight copy so far.

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www.rachellucus.com
Note above that I have finally made a Link. However, it took me more than an hour to get this one to work, and although I have tried to do others, I simply cannot figure it out. In fact, I do not know why the above Link was successful either. It's purely accidental, I assure you. But, give it a click and enjoy Rachel.

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I've tried and tried, but I cannot figure out how to do a link. I have had a woman who teaches compouter techniques to beginners, but even she cannot understand the way they tell us to do it here on Blogger. We tried for two hours and finally got it to register a site once, but that's all.We do not know where things are going either.

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Recommended Sites for Viewing.
Rachel Lucas was the first Blogger whom I followed on a daily basis, because her Site was recommended to me. She's been a lot of fun to read and they've had some very interesting discussions on her site. Put her on your Favorites list if you find her as sassy and fun as I do. Unfortunately you missed a lot of her good pieces from her college days, which recently stopped because...she is finished with school.

From there I went to others that she listed, especially Frank Whittle. I highly recommend him to you and you'll find him at: Eject!Eject!Eject!.com. I believe that Frank's essays should be available at every High School in the country, and recommended reading to the students. If you have a student in High School, steer him/her in that direction, but first, be sure to go there yourself! If only I could write as beautifully as Frank.

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A STRESS TEST THAT WORKED. AND HOW. WOW!
There's a little lapse here between my previous post and today's. I offer my apologies. There are two reasons for it.

A) We went to Los Angeles, Milli and me, this past Friday for a birthday celebration. The 25th of August is my daughter's 50th birthday, but since she was scheduled to leave on her vacation on the 24th, we decided to have a dinner-party on the 23rd. Well, actually we were celebrating two birthdays, because her brother was born on the same day (only nine years later), and is now 41. We had a family gathering at a great Thai restaurant in Pasadena, and it was an enjoyable get-together for us all.

Now, one thing I will tell you is that both the doctor and my wife figured the youngest son would be born on August 10th, but when they informed me of it I immediately disagreed and told them that he would be born on the 25th of August. They refigured the dates and came up with August 10th again, but again I assured them it would be the 25th. He was born on the 25th, his sister's ninth birthday, just as I had predicted more than eight months earlier!

B) Last week I finally got in for an appointment with a cardiologist. My HMO had lost their previous heart specialist because he was not satisfied with what they paid him, and therefore I could not get my pacemaker checked out. This new one, Dr. Vogle, is a long distance runner, among other accomplishments.

Due to the way my legs work now (a very unsightly scissors walk because I have a mild form of cerebral palsy), he thought I might not be able to get on the treadmill, but I managed. I noticed that he kept checking the computer, then double checking it, and then told me that I had to have my pacemaker (which they call a generator now) replaced. He scheduled it for Tuesday, the 26th. I went in and had it done yesterday, then returned for a check-up this morning, when he removed the large bandage on my chest, taking with it half the hairs on my chest.

It was then that he informed me that my old one had quit working while I was on the treadmill last week! My heart normally beats slow, about 50 to 52 a minute, when it should be at least 60 times a minute. It has given me trouble for 25 years and they always failed to find the cause of my problems. In 1995 it was finally diagnosed correctly.

Today the cardiologist said that now the heart rate is in the 40s, so this monitoring device is very important to my well-being. The old one had been installed in 1996, so that little device has been in for 7 years and that's not too bad, when you consider it. But, the amazing thing is that it actually died right there while he was giving me the Stress Test. That was really a coincidence, wasn't it? It had been in 7 years and gave up the ghost in the cardiologist's office!

C) I also visited my Urologist last week for a check-up on the prostate cancer. That was diasnosed in 1995, but I cancelled the operation to remove the tumor two days before surgery. I refused radiation as well.

Eight years later, which was in May of this year, I went in and asked for the radiation. My PSA had puzzled them anyway, because it would go up slowly, then go down a bit, then up, then down. That is what the doctor called an anomaly, and he was always puzzled that I went about my business and ignored the malignant cancer. In early 1996 he had even sent me a Registered Letter telling me how important he felt it was for me to seek help immediately, either an operation or radiation.

The radiation treatments went on for eight and a half weeks, and the progress was good. I did not lose any hair, not that I have that much to lose.

Last week, checking out the prostate with his finger, he said he could not find any trace of the tumor. We dicussed things in his office, and he said again, that I was an anomaly. He wanted to know why I had waited 8 years for treatment, and what impelled me to finally accept it. I couldn't answer him, except to tell him that it just seemed the way to do it all along, and when the time came to proceed, I would know and I did.

I'm lucky. My Urologist believes in such things as miracle cures, and he has written a book on it. He's working on a second book and said that my case will be in it. I'm not claiming mine is a miracle cure, because I did have radiation. It is only that something seemed to be telling me when and how to handle it.

Well, it is almost two-thiry a.m. again and I have to get some sleep. I keep saying that I'll start going to bed earlier, but never seem to find the time to do it. Nite all.

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LETTERS FROM THE FRONT
Why do we have so many anti-American Americans today? No doubt there is something radically wrong in our Education system. We've been infiltrated with Leftists, Liberals. Communists, Socialists, and mutants of all of them.

How can anyone, anyone in their right mind, adore Fidel Castro and call him a genius? I mean, the guys an out and out serial killer, a jerk of the First Water, and he has reduced most of the Cuban people to penury. He does have to have some buddies in order to have someone to associate with, so he does allow a certain number of upper class whites to enjoy a few luxuries so that he, Raul, and their families, aren't living by themselves. Poverty, extreme poverty, is the only true product of Commuinism. It has been proven in every country that has gone communist in the past 100 years, but Liberals have such a mental block against capitalism and people determining their own destiny that Marx is their God no matter what turmoil his theories produce.

FIDEL CASTRO URGED THE USSR TO FIRE NUCLEAR MISSLES AT THE U.S.
This is a fact. Fidel Castro urged the USSR to make the first strike, he urged Krushchev to do it. He knew it would result in the destruction of the Cuban nation and millions of casualties in both the US and the USSR, but he admits that he did so. Just sit and think about that for awhile. Think of the horrible destruction he would have brought about, the cities destroyed, the people killed.

And three Hollywood producers have praised him, and one even called him a genius. Well, to me the three of them are absolute idiots. How can you view history in such a context and then call Fidel a genius? Tthey must be sick, eh?

Castro's firing squad recently executed three Cuban citizens, three young men who simply tried to flee Cuba and a repressive society in an old Ferry Boat, three young men who were sentenced to die and within a couple of weeks, they were shot. The first one who should have been shot was Fidel, and then his brother Raul, and whoever is third in command. If Nazi and Japanese leaders were executed for their war crimes, then Fidel Castro should be executed for his.

Sixteen others who recently tried to escape in a boat fitted with pontoons made of oil barrels are now in prison for 7 to 10 years, all African-Americans (please take note, Mr. Belefonte, and Mr. Glover). Why do they leave? Because to live there is to live in fear on a daily basis, to live without being able to express your opinion freely, to live in eternal poverty and watch the tyrannical dictator Fidel Castro and his henchmen live in the same type of luxury as Fulgencio Batista, the dictator he deposed. Only one difference, Castro has looted the island in a manner far and above the crimes committed by Batista.

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EDUCATION ON THE WEB
There's so much on the Web that it's like being in the biggest library in the world and finding that the rows of book stretch on infinitely.

I came across a good article which explains Fidel and Castro quite easily, easy for anyone, that's anyone to understand. The name of the man is: Freidrich A. Hayek. Just enter that into your Search Engine.

Here's an example of what goes on in many homes in Cuba: you go to the bathroom, only the water is turned off at that time of day. Now, whether you pee or poop, there it sits. If someone else needs to go too, then more of it awaits a time when the water is turned on and you can flush the toilet.

It doesn't make for gracious living, does it? But, that's only one of the problems. Now, unless you're a twit and you don't keep a neat and clean home, a stinkin' mess in the bathroom would be rather annoying.

When the water is turned off, it also means no water to do the dishes in the kitchen, nor to get a cool glass of water, or to take a shower or a bath. After some years of this, you find that you really don't need a daily bath or shower, so your your appearance is not as nice as you'd like.

There are many other things wrong, too many of them to even make a list, but because this great genius, Fidel, is the darling of some movie producers (and they're the ones who proclaimed him a genius) all of this is overlooked.

Nowhere to turn, the government doesn't care, nor the local Revolutionary committe, so you put up with the inconvenience for years and years and years. The only way you resolve it is to take an ocean voyage in an inner tube, a risky venture at best, but there's no other alternative for you.

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STRONG FEELINGS, STRONG LANGUAGE
But not foul language. I reserve that for my computer. The computer can't answer back, but it fights back and it fights dirty. In fact, it does not fight back as much as it always strikes first. That's why I swear at it.

However, you don't find those words in my Blogs. They're strictly reserved for the computer, but they're nowhere on my hard drive.

I am, though, not timid about expressing my opinions about some people, especially those Americans who stand on foreign soil, in countries that do not recognize basic human rights and indeed, have a record of violations and executions that are beyond the pale and there attack U.S. policies.

Free speech, the right of free speech? Certainly. They have that right right here in the U.S. But they choose to exercise it in a foreign country where it is forbidden to the ordinary citizens, such as in Cuba or VietNam, where contrary views can put the citizens of that country in prison for years, if not life, or earn them an early date with the executioner.

Sure, I can remember hearing Lord Haw Haw broadcast during W.W. II. And, I heard re-broadcasts of Axis Sally. They faced the Courts at the end of the war.

But, for example, I've carefully followed and studied the history of the revolution and Fidel Castro since he lived in the mountains, and from thjere made raids on government installations when the dictator, Fulgencio Batista, was in control.

I say if Batista was bad for Cuba, that Fidel Castro has been 100 times worse for Cuba. He has literally destroyed the economy and brought almost everyone, except for his favored cronies, down to poverty level. He has destroyed the middle class, as well as the upper class, and those he did not execute live in fear, as most of the population does there today. It is an all pervasive fear, as anyone who has lived under the communist system there will testify to.

And my reasoning goes: that if Americans either make speeches in favor of Fidel's government, or befriend or praise him, that they are against the Cuban people. When almost two million people have fled a country, and the police arrest and imprison anyone who tries to leave that country, or who criticizes either the Holy of Holies, the ultimate leader, or the government, then something is seriously wrong.

I venture to say that if the gates were open, that in short order the country would be almost empty, that around 75% of the population would choose freedom on a foreign soil over serving Fidel for the rest of their natural lives in Cuba, in a form of slavery as it exists there.

Ahhh, you might say, "Howard sees communists everywhere!" No, I see them where they are, in Cuba, and now in Venezuela, and in Peru, and slowly taking power in South America. Freedom requires eternal vigilance, and it requires that vigilance in every single country in the world. If we value our freedom, then we must always be alert, because someone is always plotting to take it away from you if you don't pay close attention to politics.

Fidel Castro succeeded in taking freedom away from the Cuban people by telling them he was going to overthrow Fulgencio Batista in order to free them from that dictatorship, but then he imposed his own murderous dictatorship upon them. He has been there through nine American presidents, and I ask, "How would we like to have an American president steal our government and rule over us with his own set of laws for 45 years?".

Therefore, I detest those who lend support to Fidel Castro, the leading executioner in the western hemisphere.

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FIVE STAR RATS AGAIN
Hey, isn't this a great country? I mean, look, millions of people own their own homes and a car, computers, and all the nice things in life. We should be pretty happy, right?

But for some reason or other, there are those who are dissatisfied and want to change the system. They tout the great advantages that the Cubans have over us, a country ruled by a murderous monster whom they call El Presidente, although no such title exists in Cuba, and that title evokes the memory of legally elected officials, which NONE of the Cuban heirarchy can claim.

HOMES: All the homes in Cuba are owned by the government. That's why so many of them are falling apart. Who in the Havana municipal government cares one twit whether your living room has been painted recently or not, whether your toilet bowl needs to be replaced, whether your windows work properly? Who? You get assigned to a home, and that's it.

And, while you earn the magnificant sum of $30 a month, which barely feeds and clothese you, are you going to spend ten bucks for paint to make an apartment you don't own look better? So, you live in a place that seems to get a little worse each year, because no one cares.

Everyone lives like this. Instead of equal opportunity, it is equal poverty, poverty of the soul, mind and spirit, because not only your home, but YOU are owned by the government.

Then, a FIVE STAR RAT, shows up, one from America, an American multi-millionaire named Harry Belafonte, and he is a personal friend of the murderous Emperor of the Caribbean, Fidel Castro, and he makes speeches telling YOU, a Cuban, how nice you have it there in Cuba, that you should be grateful to Fidel for all you (don't) have. Then this FIVE STAR RAT, HARRY BELAFONTE, flies home, perhaps in a private jet, and his chauffeur meets him at the airport with his Mercedes sedan. If you want to call him a Six Star Rat, that's okay, but I am sticking with the Michilen Rating System. He gets *****FIVE STARS RAT rating from me.

He can throw parties in Hollywood, but in Cuba, you cannot have a gathering for a party because it is against the law. In Cuba you cannot go to the store and find any type of food you want, but HARRY BELAFONTE, the FIVE STAR RAT, can do so in Beverly Hills or Brentwood. He's a f**king millionaire, and he could not be one in Cuba, but he can in the United States, right.

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COMMUNISM MEANS A MURDEROUS GOVERNMENT
Name me one communist government in which murder was not sanctioned in order to stifle political opposition?

Name me one communist government which was not ruled by a blood-thirsty murderer, with powers as great or greater than Emperors and Kings in the past.

Make a list of countries that suffered under the yoke of communism, and besides their names, the numbers of people executed or who died from starvation and torture in prisons, and you'll find that it is in the millions, tens of millions. Communism cannot exist as a government when there is a free exchange of ideas; it can only live as a totalitarian form of government.

FIDEL CASTRO PRACTICALLY CONTROLS SOUTH AMERICA TODAY
To all intents and purposes, Fidel Castro has all his ducks in a row, and his henchmen are in a position to overthrow all opposition and take over most, if not all, of South America. His Fifth Column were the doctors (read communist agents) who covertly indoctrinated the peasanst throughout South America in communist ideology.

You're not alarmed? Well, you should be. You will be when millions flee those countries and seek political sanctuary in the United States. This will be the only country that will appeal to them, because to remain at home will mean a bloodbath or imprisonment.

While we may give the appearance of a strong nation, the underbelly is exposed, and our young people have been subverted by inane ideas in our schools and colleges, while our founders and heroes from the past have been slandered and denigrated. It's all there to see, if you're smart enough. However, the SUV mentality keeps people from understanding what is going on before their very eyes. We're too self-centered as a nation to take a look at what is going on all around us, and we won't spend a little bit of time to study it and to expose it, or better yet, to fight it. It's too amusing for most people.

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FIVE STAR RATS
Since the early 1930s I have been well aware of what Communism stands for, and more than aware of the horrendous toll in human lives, those killed in communist instigated wars, those executed by communist regimes, and those who live in isolation for years in prisons because they do not believe in communism, and where many of them die from starvation, torture, or from other mistreatment.

Those who can and do, in any way, support, encourage or publicize a Communist dictator, especially one like Fidel Castro only 90 miles off our shores, are beyond my comprehension, and so, I am building a list of people I personally believe (and I am sure millions of others will agree) to be:
FIVE STAR RATS
*****Oliver Stone, who has produced a film, The Human Side of Fidel Castro, Executioner
*****Harry Belafonte, friend and supporter of Fidel Castro, World's Largest Slave Holder.
*****Danny Glover, known to make speeches on behalf of Fidel Castro, Tyrannical Dictator.
*****Kevin Costner, said he had the experience of a lifetime when he met and sat with a mass murderer named Fidel.

Hey, can you understand these jerks? Hollywood has to be full of five star whackos, when they call Fidel a genius, the real whacko who wants to downsize cows to the size of dogs so Cubans can have fresh milk every morning in their own kitchens. No wonder Costner lost $150 million on Waterworld! He and Fidel are a good match, one who invents a kitchen cow and the other who has $150 million to spend on a movie and simple-mindedly fails to deliver. Sheeesh. Perhaps we ought to add a sixth star to his resume' for that one.

That's right. Put your miniature cow right up on the table and begin pulling teats, shooting milk in each kid's glass, and now and then...right in the mouth. But then, what do you do about the cow plop on Daddy's plate. Fidel the genius? Same class as Oliver, Kevin, Danny and Harry, eh?

Really, can you understand how these mental midgets who, when two million people flee a country where there is no freedom of speech, no freedom of religion, no freedom of the press, and 30,000 die, drowning at sea while fleeing on flimsy rafts, can still think that there is some type of salvation in Cuba?

Ten million people are all wards of the government, but these jerks think that is okay. The government pays most of them $30 a month, but these jerks don't even object to that. The government owns all the houses and there is no free enterprise, but these jerks don't raise an objection.

Thousands rot in jails because they are dissidents who oppose Castro's tyranny, but these jerks don't even mouth a single objection. More than ten thousand have been executed on orders of Fidel Castro, but these jerks haven't even opposed that. Three young black men were recently shot by a firing squad for trying to flee to freedom in a Ferry Boat, but did you hear Harry, Danny or Oliver, or even the Council of Churches say a single word against it? No.

They can leave and go back to their mansions in Beverly Hills, drive their Mercedes and Rolls Royces, while the black slaves in Cuba toil on for Fidel. Hey, Harry, sing this: "Tote that bar, lift that bale, say one word of dissent and you'll end in jail." Thanks Oliver, thanks Harry, thanks Danny. Mierda del toro, to you all, which in English translates to: Happy Day.

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THE NUDE HIKER
There's a guy walking across England in the nude. His course will cover 847 miles, with nothing but a rucksack to cover his naked upper back, and everything else is exposed to the sun, wind, rain and view.

Why doesn't he earn some money through advertising products while he is doing this, such as taking these penis enlargement pills they tout through SPAM email each day, and by the time he has covered the whole 847 miles, he'd have something to show for it. Well, that is, if the pills actually work. Maybe, like Pinocchio's nose, it'll continue to grow. However, I would strongly recommend that he not take Viagara at the same time, otherwise he'll have to hang an English flag from it to disguise it.

Just imagine thousands of English men saluting him as he marches by. Leapin' Lizards, Sandy, but I don't mean any disrespect to their flag.

His name is Steve Gough, and he is 44 years old. Also, he's been arrested 8 times so far, and assaulted once by an irate citizen, resulting in four stitches in his head (before all the sawdust leaked out). Back in the 30's, someone would have used a BB gun on his private parts to dissuade him from going any further.

He claims to be a man of independent thought and action. How shall we class him? As a Five-Star Nut-case? He's certainly not a flasher, since he has no coat to open. If children come along, I'm certain he's exposing himself to them. How much latitude do you give to someone like this?

He says, "Most people say, 'Good idea, mate.' They seem to be couples or single people." Tell me, is there any other kind besides these?

One more fact, he's unemployed. Do you wonder why? Coming in to work every day, it might not be considered sexual harrassment, but assexual embarrassment.

They should cut off (no, no, not that) his benefits and then he'd have to rethink this whole thing out (no pun intended), perhaps even return to work. I think he should at least wear a necktie around his neck or....

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AMERICA'S FIVE-STAR RATS IN CUBA
Yep, I've said it before, and I am going to say it again: I am going to publish a list of 5-Star Rats, those who publicly support the biggest slave-holder in the western hemisphere, Fidel Castro. Look for it.

The Emperor of the Caribbean, the Executioner, the tyrant, Fidel, and his Hollywood retinue of 5-Star Rats.

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A REAL RAT RACE IN CALIFORNIA
Wow. What is it we have now, 158 candidates for Governor of California? Now I am not calling these people rats, because I am sure that most of them are very, very fine people. But, can you imagine anywhere else than in California where there could be more people in the running (and some more will still file, I think) than here in the land of the fruits and nuts?

Hell, I think that's more people than you'll find in the State of Maine in mid-winter!

Yep, fifty years from now parents will be telling their children, "Did you know that your grandfather (or great-grandfather) ran for governor in the year 2003?" By that time we may have outgrown the appellation of "the land of the fruits and nuts!" The kids may not understand that in 2003 just about anything could happen in California, and often did.

THE TERMINATOR
It only cost $3,500 to file, so pull out your credit card and go for it. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. You'll be in good company, and you can always say that you ran on the same ballot as Arnold Schwarzenegger. That alone should be worth the $3,500.

The real question is, will Arnold be able to terminate all the other candidates? After all, he's been coached on how to do it in the movies, so will he be able to do it in real life? You've got to hand it to him, with a wife coming from one of the strongest Democratic families in the country, here's Arnold setting out to give them a good bashing, and I hope he does. Maybe he can get his cousin, Danny diVito, to stump (no pun) for him.

Arnold must be quite a talker, quite convincing. Look, Maria Schriver was raised in the greatest stronghold of the Democratics in the whole country, in the Kennedy compound in Massachusetts, and she's been brain-washed since birth that all Republicans are the enemy. How did Arnold break into that fortress of Liberalism and take captive the lovely maiden, who was protected by the famous Kennedy Nights of the Round-table?

With a coup like that, he may well turn out to be a wily candidate and fool them all, and be the first governor of the state with a split slate: Schwarzenegger/Kennedy-Schriver.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON-PUFFINGTON
Then there's that lady with the Greek-Socialist education, the one who thinks a lot like Hillary, you know, "It takes a village (read: government) to raise a child", like what's going on in Cuba today. She's so anti-Republican, so anti-Administratoin, so anti-Bush, so anti-Big Business, so anti-Doctors, and so pro-socialized medicine that I don't even understand why or how she lists herself as a Republican, except as a Trojan horse (but then, she is Greek, isn't she?).

Ol' Huff and Puff has been attacking everything in Washington for so long now, that one should have little doubt about where she stands. She thinks that the government should take care of your kids from about age 3, including all medical needs, and that this will resolve all the country's problems (or California's).

That's exactly what Fidel Castro is doing in Cuba today, you know, the guy who insisted on getting little Elian Gonzalez back from Miami, the kid Janet Reno sent armed troops into a private home to recover for Fidel. Great Balls of Fire, Sandy, don't you remember that? The government owns the kids in Cuba! Should the government own them here in California too?

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WIN THE WAR, BUT LOSE THE PEACE
I'm still of the mind that the Liberal media slant is going to cost us the peace if we're not careful. They're documenting each individual soldier killed, and as much as I hate to see a single one of our military men either wounded or killed, the price of freedom is often measured in lives, and whether both the nation and its' soldiers have the guts and determination to make the necessary sacrifices, an unfortunate truism.

In the mid-east, each Muslim nations and its' people seem ready and willing to sacrifice their lives, in fact, even anxious to give their lives for the cause they believe in! They're proud to do so, and their families are proud of them when they make the ultimate sacrifice.

They've struck at us again and again, and for more than 15 years they've taken a toll in the lives of both American and our friendly nations. Here, many people shrug their shoulders and blame the U.S. for this, blame their own country, and refuse to acknowledge the fact that evil-doers do exist and that they must be exterminated, just as one would exterminate rodents.

Patriotism? Many schools today simply do not teach it. Many universities are against it. And many organizations are simply anti-American. As a result, the feeling of patriotism is steadily eroding in the hearts and minds of our children. We are not even a melting pot any longer, because various nationalities are forming distinct and separate groups and there is no longer the emphasis, as there once was, on being an American.

If children are not taught from an early age to love and honor their country, its' founders, and its' heroes, we lose that sense of unity. I am apalled at some of the statements I've heard teachers make lately. They seem to think that teaching patriotism is making children warlike, and they simply do not believe in defending this country if it means that we must fight a war.

That's pretty sick thinking, if you ask me. Obviously they don't watch the history channel. Obviously they haven't studied the history of communism, or even paid attention to what has happened to the Cuban people just 90 miles off our shores.

I'm going to do a new page on my Website, and it will be called: FIVE STAR RATS. It's going to list many friends of Castro, such as Danny Glover and Harry Belafonte. Watch for it, on Howards Views.

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A GLASS OF WINE FOR $2.75, AND AN ANGEL IN THE SKY.
Tuesday, and another day in Paradise. I always consider Solvang to be a little Paradise, and that's why I did not move from here when I closed my Art Gallery six years ago.

Stopped off at the New Danish Inn for a glass of wine during Happy Hour. Two friends were at the bar, and there was one seat between them and a group of six people. The six were tourists from a bus, an English couple, two Aussies, and a Dutch couple. They'd been to Arizona, the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley, then Phoenix, and after a stop in Los Angeles they were working their way up the coast to San Francisco. The English couple was from Dover.

The only time I was in Dover, it was full of bomb damage, and there were lots of Tarts around. I don't remember which made the biggest impression on me, the bomb damage or all the Tarts.

We all spent a pleasant hour together in light conversation and then I left. One glass of wine is usually enough for me, and at half price, it was $2.75.

The New Danish Inn is exactly the same as the old Danish Inn, but when Augie, the new owner, and Peggy, the former owner, could not arrive at a price for the name, he did an end run and simply registered it as the New Danish Inn at a cost of $30 and saved himself some money.

AUGGIE WON $55 MILLION IN THE LOTTERY.

I don't remember what year it was, but it was some months after Auggie hit the Lottery for $55 million...about six years ago. He was a rocket scientist, and had worked with Werner von Braun, so he was quite comfortable before he hit the Lottery. His wife, Marguerite, was having a lot of fun with the money. They'd buy a new car and after a few months, she would give it away to a friend and simply buy another. She gave away more than a few of them. She was really enjoying life. They were both around 70 years old when they hit the Big One.

They went into the Danish Inn (which at the time was called Linton's) for dinner one night, and since Marguerite had always liked the place, she (and perhaps Auggie too) decided they should buy it. So they asked for the owner, who was Sly Linton, and told him they wanted to buy it.

Sly had been trying desperatly to sell it for several months, and he had just told me the night before, "Howard, on Monday I am going down to Santa Barbara and file for bankruptcy." Just an hour before this happened, they'd shot up a missle from Vandenberg Air Force Base and the fiery rockets had left a cloud in the sky, a cloud that formed into a perfect outline of an angel!

Someone leaving the bar saw it and went back inside to tell everyone. Sly's daughter-in-law had run back inside after seeing it and said, "An angel is coming to save DAD."

And then an hour later, yep, in walked that sweet angel, Marguerite. I talked to five people who had all seen that "angel in the sky", two of them lived 20 miles from Solvang, and one of them was called by telephone by a friend clear across town to go to the window to see the angel in the sky.

Auggie even hired Sly to manage the place for him, so Sly did quite well on the deal, even if he had lost a lot of money during the time he owned it.

Well, Sly paid off the IRS, which had been dogging him, and Marguerite and Auggie came to Solvang a couple of evenings a week. She'd get a little bit tipsy, but she always had a lot of fun, and would just would socialize with us locals. I think she gave another friend a car about then, a Jaguar if I recall rightly. She liked to dance too.

Some months after that we had a big New Year's party there, and Marguerite came over to our table several times and asked me to dance. She had a great evening, and so did we all. She was so happy.

It wasn't long after that that she went into a deep depression, and refused to come out of her bedroom. All he rmeals were served to her in her room. We haven't seen her in town nor the New Danish Inn since.

Like Sly's daughter-in-law, I too think that it was a sign. It may have been a sign for many other people all around the area, but it worked for Sly.

But then, it didn't turn out so well for Marguerite, did it?

Money isn't the blessing we think it is; our health is our true blessing.

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This was blank.

Now it isn't.

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JUST TRYIN' TO STAY THIS SIDE OF THE GRASS!
A few months ago I pulled into the handicap space in front of our local Post Office, and saw Jake Copass coming out with a couple of letters in his hand. Now Jake is a man twhat you would call "ramrod straight", about six feet, thin and wiry, and not one of those fakes, but a real cowboy. He has a beautiful head of silver hair, a thin mustache, and for eighty years old, not a wrinkle in his face. That's probably because under that white Stetson he always wears a smile.

He's bought and sold cattle and horses all over the west, even driven herds into Mexico in his career. When he was in the Army during WWII, he was in charge of 1600 mules in New Guinea, because that was the only place they couldn't use the Jeep. Mules transported all the supplies for the Allied troops there.

But Jake is also a Cowboy poet, and he has a great way of expressing himself. That day I asked him, "Hi Jake, how're you doing?"

His answer came back plain and simple, "Howard, I"m must trying to stay this side of the grass."

I had a great day today, and as Jake says, "I'm jus' tryin' to stay this side of the grass."

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SOFT SHELLS AND THIN SKINS
The other day I picked an egg out of the carton and the shell just crumbled in my hand. This is similar to the way they're teaching children, to be thin-skinned, to take offense at literally everything.

While name calling or ridicule can make children's schooling hell, there was also an answer to it, a quick punch in the mouth. Either the thoughtless one got the message, or he hit you back much harder and you knew you'd have to suffer his insults for quite awhile.That's when you accepted your fate.

Today they teach courses in how to take offense. It's like walking barefoot across a parking lot strewn with nails.

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